


Seeing Fireworks

by vague_ambition



Series: to love and be loved [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Hogwarts, James Potter's wooing techniques, Jily Proposal, MWPP, Marauders' Era, Marriage Proposal, Pranks and Practical Jokes, gratuitous use of fireworks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 01:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16844299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vague_ambition/pseuds/vague_ambition
Summary: “We leave Hogwarts today, lads,” James said, looking wildly between his three friends and attempting to contain his panic at that single sentence. The other Marauders nodded their agreement. “But before that, I think I have something to do. I want to give everyone a big, Marauders send-off. Explosions, surprises...you know the like.” The others nodded again. James turned to smile at them, knowing full well that the others knew what he was to say. “Today is the day I propose to Lily Evans, with all of those things involved.” The other three whooped while James grinned at them, somewhat wildly.Or, the one with fireworks.





	Seeing Fireworks

James Potter couldn’t help but be astonished. He had been in love with Lily Evans since the moment he first laid eyes on her, and now he was going to…

He was going to…

“Prongs, you can do this.” Siris beamed at him, his best friend until the end. James smiled at him weakly. 

“I mean, you became an Animagus at fifteen. Do you know how hard that is?” That was Peter.

“Yes, I did happen to do it,” James snapped. “As did you, Wormtail. We’re both aware of that.” 

“So why is this such a difficult prospect?” Great, now Remus was ganging up on him. Normally Moony was the least likely to follow the others in accusations, and definitely the least likely to follow one of Sirus’s schemes. Which meant that he was only speaking the truth. And James could respond maturely. 

“Because!” he shouted. The other three Marauders circled him.

Peter was the first to pounce. “Because? Because why?” Fucking rat.

“None of your business.” James responded sulkily. The other three smirked at one another, further incensing him. 

“Look.James,” Remus began in his patented reasonable tone. “You and Lily have only been together since last term.” Sirius coughed at the reminder of the timeline and Remus threw a glare at him, knowing full well what his friend was thinking. “But you still know this is right. Just…”

“Look, mate,” Well. It seemed as though Sirius was taking over here. “We could die tomorrow. Me, you, Re, Pete, Lils...any of us. So just take what you can, while you can, before that Voldemort and his followers do.” James felt a combination of bile and tears rising in his throat. He would prefer to think of anything except his friends’ deaths, let alone picture it, but Sirius’s talk did drive something home.

“We leave Hogwarts today, lads,” he said, looking wildly between his three friends and attempting to contain his panic at that single sentence. The other Marauders nodded their agreement. “But before that, I think I have something to do. I want to give everyone a big, Marauders send-off. Explosions, surprises...you know the like.” The others nodded again. James turned to smile at them, knowing full well that the others knew what he was to say. “Today is the day I propose to Lily Evans, with all of those things involved.” The other three whooped while James grinned at them, somewhat wildly. 

“Today, we graduate Hogwarts, and I propose to Lily Evans,” he repeated, reaching toward his pocket to make sure he still had the ring.

***

There was a precise moment when James decided he had to propose to Lily. He had, of course, been declaring that she would be his future wife since he started noticing girls (girl, really) in third year. He had known since they started dating that he would propose to her one day. But one day became “as soon as fucking possible” just before the Easter hols. 

It had been the day of their mock Defense N.E.W.T. They had just gotten out of the exam when the Marauders, plus Lily, had headed out to the lake, bundled up and tromping through the last of the snow. Remus and Lily had been talking about how they thought they did when Lily, with a spark in her green eyes, had grinned at him in a mischievous sort of way.

“Dinner tonight?” She had said, a lilt in her voice which James loved, indicating something was about to happen. All four Marauders swiveled their head towards her, “Don’t you think it’s time for something? People have been so stressed, and it’s been a little too calm lately.” She concluded with a wink that made James weak in the knees, no matter how much he denied it. Sirius 

“What did you have in mind?” He asked, cautiously. Her smile grew absolutely wicked--it was a little disturbing how similarly she and Sirius could grin deviously, James thought idly, glancing at his best friend’s matching smirk. 

“Just something to remind the teachers of all the spellwork and charms they’ve taught us,” she shrugged. “I just need you four to procure some Veritaserum and get into the kitchens.”

***

Three hours later, James had to duck under the table when each professor’s cloth napkin began serenading each teacher with choice tidbits about their personal lives to hide how much he was laughing. Apparently Sprout occasionally gardened naked in Greenhouse Four, Slughorn hadn’t been properly sober in years (no surprise there), Dumbledore chuckled when his napkin mentioned novelty underwear (and James did NOT need to know that). Sirius wasn’t even hiding his open guffaws, Peter was snickering into his pumpkin juice, and even Remus had a case of the giggles. Only Lily seemed composed until--

_And Minnie, my dear_ __  
_You seem so uptight_ __  
_But you weren’t when you were in bed_ _  
_ __with Poppy last night!

Lily choked on her water, Remus slid down in his seat, Sirius let out a loud and probably involuntary squawk. James couldn’t stop himself from gaping towards the professors’ table. It was simultaneously the best and worst thing that had ever happened. Professor McGonagall flushed bright red, confirming the veracity of the ditty, and destroyed her napkin with a quick Incendio. She stood up and the giggles throughout the hall fell silent. First she turned to the other professors and, at a nod from her, the rest of the professors followed her lead in neatly Incendio-ing the offending napkins. More than one pair of eyes flashed towards the Marauders. 

“Potter, Black, Lupin, Pettigrew,” she said coolly, her eyes narrowed. “Come to my office, please.” They scrambled to obey.

***

Twenty minutes and four Priori Incantateums later, McGonagall had reluctantly concluded that none of the four boys had cast any spells that could have resulted in the singing napkins. 

“Well, I did not intend to reveal that particular information to the school, but as I cannot prove it was your fault, nor do I think you intended for that result, you’re off free this time. Please leave my office.” 

James could hardly believe their luck as they jumped up and left, with Sirius giving her a jaunty salute on the way out. They ran straight into an anxious looking Lily.

“Well?” she asked, an expression of extreme guilt on her face. James grinned at her.

“She couldn’t prove it was us. You’re a genius, Lils.” She let out a squeak of delight and started toward James, who whooped a little bit before spinning her around and kissing her. “I love you.”

“That prank will go down in history!” Sirius said fervently. “Jamie, I think I’m going to steal your girlfriend.” 

“How did you manage that?” Remus asked as they headed for Gryffindor Tower. Lily shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Combination of a Babbling Curse, Veritaserum soaked napkins, and a modified Legilimency charm that has a bit of the flesh-memory charm used for Snitches. I didn’t think it would be that...revealing.” All four boys stopped in their tracks.

“Are you kidding me?” Remus said almost reverently. “That’s insane.”

“You really are a genius,” Peter agreed, shaking his head. 

Sirius was flabbergasted. “You shouldn’t even be able to  _ do  _ that!” 

James, for his part, could not even form words. The only thought he had was, “I have to marry this girl.” 

***

Since then, he had dragged Sirius ring shopping several times, confessed his plans to his parents, and gone through eighty-two different ideas of how to propose. He had visited Mr. and Mrs. Evans to inform them of his plans--although not ask them for permission He had also wimped out. Twice. It took a Marauders Intervention and a very long lecture on Being A Gryffindor and Being A Man and how Sirius Would Marry Lily Himself If James Didn’t Hurry to get to Plan No. 83: Seeing Fireworks. The plan was simple--the other Marauders had, after all, done a simpler version of it not too long ago. Yet, because it was the Marauders’ last prank, it had to be the best thing they had ever done. 

No pressure, or anything. 

***

“James, are you okay? You’re acting a little...manic,” Lily said a little while later, while they were standing at the portrait hole. “Come on, it’s the leaving feast. We don’t want to be late, otherwise Remus and Peter will leave nothing for us.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m just…” he gestured around, choking a little bit on the wave of emotion.

Lily nodded, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “I know. I’m sad to leave too. But it isn’t goodbye yet. and we’ll see the others all the time, and we’re going to move in together in August.” James nodded, deciding to let her assume that was the only reason for his nerves. He followed her down the corridor, towards the Great Hall. 

***

His leg couldn’t stop bouncing as he sat between Sirius and Lily, waiting for the end of Dumbledore’s end-of-term speech. Yes, yes, the world was getting dark, it was time to put aside old prejudices, etc. He knew, in some vague part of his mind, that Dumbledore was saying important things, but he was a little too focused on his own plans for the evening to worry about, well...the next day. 

“And with that, let us enjoy another wonderful feast!” Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together while he took his seat. The food appeared. Lily reached for her fork and James gave one quick nod at his friends. They all waved their wands underneath the table. 

A huge bang sounded when every single bit of food at the Slytherin table exploded, in a series of fireworks that made Lily’s earlier display look like child’s play. James had been inspired by Fiendfyre--although less violent and more fun. Dragons and phoenixes swirled around one another, and a hippogriff--Sirius’s favorite creature from Care of Magical Creatures--romped through the Hufflepuff table, causing every dish to explode just like the Slytherins’ had. The Ravenclaws, smart until the end, ducked below their own table only seconds before their food followed suit. Finally, to the Marauders’ cackling, the Gryffindors’ dishes completed the group. Lily threw her hands up to protect her face but any food particles turned into confetti before they hit anyone--red and gold, of course. She laughed, staring at James in awe while the firework creatures bounded around them. 

“Hey, there’s words!” someone exclaimed. Sure enough, the Slytherin table’s fireworks had resolved into an L. Lily, to James’s delight, followed suit with most of the student body, swiveling to follow the letters as the firework beasts reformed themselves into words. 

In sparkling, red and gold firework letters, it spelled out “Lily Evans, will you marry me?” James, pulling out the box he had in his pocket, got down on one knee, his mouth incredibly dry. 

Lily gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, swiveling around to look at James. He was shaking so badly he could hardly hold himself up. Her eyes sparkled in the way that had made James fall in love with her in the first place. 

“Yes, you absolute berk. Yes, of course,” she said, beaming. James, hands still shaking, slid the ring onto her finger and, with a grin, stood up to kiss his fianc é e. 

All in all, it wasn’t a bad last day of Hogwarts. 

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so I just needed something to tease McGonagall with but assume for the sake of everything that they were just fuck buddies. 
> 
> Also for those of you following this series, sorry for the delay w/Up in your bedroom! The next chapter will be up soon, but all my grad apps are due right about now.


End file.
